Soul of Rostria
by Annontins
Summary: Within the ancient forest of Rostria, lies a secret kept hidden since the reign of the Four Kings. Now, after ruin has spread across the lands of Lordran, the time has come to find it. And one such hollow will do just that.


Hello all! Welcome to my first EVER story on this site. Been lurking around for a while now, and decided I'd try and write my own story. And, since I adore Dark Souls, I decided to write about just that. I plan on creating my own boss's for this series, and hopefully you guys like them. First chapter'll be a bit short, but I assure you they'll get longer as time goes on. Anyways, time to get to the story... Enjoy!

A/N: Made some edits to the story. Added some things, got rid of a few others. New chapter'll be out relatively soon. And 1,000 words! Woohoo!

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He should've been faster. He should've heard the knight coming towards him. He shouldn't of gotten distracted by that damned lizard. But he had been slow and stupid, and he was punished severely for it. The black knight's great sword pierced his armor like it was paper, digging it deep within his hollowed gut. He had felt it many times before, but the pain never dulled; it seemed to only worsen. He had been told time and again that it "gets easier", but he had realized long ago that those words were nothing but lies. Likely to make those fearful undead less unnerved by death and it's inevitability. Not him though. He knew it **never** got easier, and it likely never would. Suppose it's just what a hollowed such as himself had to get used to.

The towering black knight, armor riddled with filth and deep cracks, stared silently at him as it held its sword steady deep within his gut. The knight pulled the hunk of black iron slowly from his stomach, and trudged off to where it had stood before. It knew he was all but finished. Blood began to puddle beneath his feet as he crumbled to the ground in agony. "Bastard..." he mumbled in between sharp breathes as he tried his best to slow the bleeding. He'd ran out of estus long ago, so his chances of getting out of this one alive were slim. Once he felt his body begin to go cold and his vision darken, he knew that it'd all be over soon. His eyelids grew heavy, and he had no desire to try and fight the all to familiar feeling. He knew that even if he did, it would be all but useless. And so, his eyes closed, and he allowed himself to drift off into the clutches of death. The calm he felt as he faded was indescribable. He hoped it'd last an eternity...

The sensation only lasted a moment though, before he awoke once more next to the eternally lit bonfire flame. He laid upon the soft dirt within the thick woods, looking up towards the beautifully lit evening sky. He watched as embers danced freely through the air as they rose further and further up. The sun would set soon, and then night would come. What came with it, he did not know. Breathing out a heavy sigh, he slowly began to lift himself up. His entire body ached, begging him to stop and lie back down. He wanted nothing more than to surrender to the overwhelming feeling, but he knew that if he were to, he may not ever want to get back up. And so, he got to his feet and stretched his arms and legs, feeling the many satisfying pops of his joints. He looked down to his stomach, and just as he had expected, it looked the same as it always had. No gapping wound. No blood. Just the way he liked it.

Before he returned to the wretched woods, however, he decided it'd be best to check over his equipment, since it had been quite some time, and he didn't want to risk being unprepared for whatever would be out there. He wouldn't want to fight another black knight with a broken weapon, now would he? So, he began setting his equipment out on the ground in front of him. First was his halberd. The thing had seen better days, and the axe head appeared to be getting a bit dull, but other than that, it was fine. Plus, he had grown pretty attached to the thing since it had saved his hide quite a few times in the past. Next was his raw straight sword. The point of the blade was as sharp as ever, and the rest appeared to be in tip top condition. And finally, there was his composite bow. One of the two limbs appeared to be cracked, and it looked like the bow's string had snapped in two. He wasn't sure when that had happened, but decided to think about it later. Right now, it needed repairs. And after looked through his inventory for a bit, he found just what he needed to fix it: repair powder. It was only a small bag, but it would have to do. He grabbed a handful of the golden powder and began gently rubbing it onto the the cracked limb first, then on the two ends of the string. Within a matter of seconds, the crack began to fade, until it was completely gone. And soon after that, the two ends of the bow string crawled steadily towards one another, and became one once more. Satisfied with the results, he was ready to go. His estus flasks were full, and he had a decent amount firebombs and other important supplies. With a long drawn out sigh, he began his trek through the forest once again. Hopefully it'd be the last time, since he was getting pretty sick of the putrid stench that emanated from deep within.

"What was the name of this place again? 'The Rotten Woods of Rostria'?". He took a moment to look around.

"Hmph, should've expected something like this." He chuckled to himself.


End file.
